Obsidian
by SobekGoddess
Summary: Max and the flock are on the run and she wants to head to the east coast. Warning: super fluffy nonsense. post-series-ending drabbles


I heaved in huge lungfuls of air, taking in the wreckage before me. At this point, the lab had nearly burned all the way to the ground. The top two stories caved in on themselves, leaving a pile of rubble still in flames. The seven Erasers we had just destroyed lay in a pile by the burning building, and had also caught on fire. Metal electronic bits were becoming exposed on the Erasers, underneath the melting skin and burned hair.

I gazed up toward the smoky sky and closed my eyes. Pieces of gray ash rained down from the sky like dirty snowflakes, catching in my blonde hair.

I try to organize a little vacation for my flock, and this is what happens. It was sort of the icing on the cake of my horrific week. Can't a few bird kids catch a break? We were on the run still. I just wanted to do something a little selfish.

I envy everyone else. The 100% humans. Everyone who gets to live a normal life, not constantly running from dangers. The mad scientists we have to deal with, seemed to be out there just endlessly sprouting up, trying to kill their own creations. I glared ahead at the rubble, thinking _you made me, but you cannot destroy me. _They must've programmed the tough gene in me. I did not cry in front of my flock members. Not ever. I do not show weakness. I'm Max, tougher than a box of nails. Tougher than a mutant freak on the run, shunned from society, roughin' it on her own. Oh wait, that's what I am.

Well, I have good reason for what I do, you know.

After making sure no one else was going to crawl out of the burning pile of lab leftovers, I swiveled my head around to check on my flock.

I was greeted by a vision of black eyes, bruised skin, blood dripping out of gashes, red stained feathers covering the ground. I was sure they saw the same thing when they looked at me. Iggy was rubbing his side. Could've cracked a rib. But I sighed in relief, because we were all here. That's the most I could ask for. We heal fast, us mutants. It's not too much to worry about.

That night, we took refuge in the forest behind the lab. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and with the lab and the Erasers destroyed, all imminent danger was gone. There could be bears in the woods, but I was sure the flock would gladly eat one for dinner. Instead, we feasted on what little food we had brought along with us. Fang and I had brought backpacks for the journey. I'd wanted to keep flying straight for the ocean, but Fang put a hand on my shoulder, gazing at me with the black holes he calls eyes. He didn't have to say it. The flock was exhausted, and we could all really use the sleep.

Iggy, fang, Nudge, and Angel were shoveling their share of granola bars into their mouths. Gazzy, my favorite little pyro, made a bonfire for us in a clearing among the trees. Nudge had gone scouting for food, and skipped back shortly with a handful of eggs she had snatched from a nest.

Sure, we had wings, but we weren't above chowing down on some avian food in front of us. I nearly shuddered at my own thought, but when I smelled them cooking, I forgot about it. Iggy placed a flat rock in the middle of the fire, and the eggs were sizzling on them. I had to say, we were eating gourmet tonight. Anything's better than oven roasted rat on a stick. Or garbage.

I gave everyone the beef jerky in my backpack, and then all the food was gone. It wasn't nearly enough to fill up our bottomless pits of stomachs, but it would have to do for dinner.

I gazed at my sleepy flock members, heart throbbing at the sight. Everyone was snuggled around the fire. Nudge had her head in Iggy's lap, and was nearly asleep. Iggy's eyes were closed, probably sleeping as well. Iggy was sprawled across the ground, surrounded by wrappers. Fang was prowling around in the trees, looking for a place to sleep up in the branches. They all seemed happy, and safe. This was how it should be all the time.

Angel tugged on the hem of my ratty T-shirt.

"Are we still going on vacation?" she murmured sleepily, gazing into my eyes with her shiny blue orbs.

"That's the plan," I tried to sound confident, but barely fooled myself. We couldn't get past more than a few states without getting attacked. It didn't look good for the future of my plan.

We should be looking for a permanent settlement, since we escaped the clutches of the scientists at the school what seemed like ages ago, and Jeb. We should be trying to find Jeb, so I could strangle him with my own two hands. We should be trying to take down the other labs and… _schools_ that we knew of, to save our fellow mutants. We should be trying to take down the crazed scientists.

But I had had enough. I was tired of cleaning up the wounds of my poor flock. I was tired of seeing them beaten down, not getting enough to eat. I had some money saved up that Fang and I had gathered here and there, and I wanted to buy some groceries, and maybe snatch some new clothes for the gang. I bowed my head, and sighed in frustration.

Not only that, I now had no idea what was happening with Fang and I. He seemed to be stepping up to the plate, and helping me with responsibilities. Sure, it annoyed the hell out of me when he gave orders that overruled my own. As many times as I'd punched him about it, he didn't know how much he was helping me.

He was also treating me different. Being trapped in a school most of your life kind of defeated the possibility of any of us developing any dating skills, so I wasn't sure if he was showing an interest in me, or just trying to harass the hell out of me. I was sure it was the latter. He had seen me at my worst, and knew I never combed my hair. How could he see me differently? I didn't know when or how the way I had viewed him changed, but it did. I had become increasingly aware of his dark, lanky presence. I also felt like injuring him more often, and couldn't quite understand why.

I looked up to see what he was doing, and realized I didn't see him anywhere near the fire.

My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn't help the pang of adrenaline go through my veins when a member of my flock wasn't in sight. My wings twitched, ready to search for him.

I stopped myself, though. He had probably slunk off to sleep somewhere. I felt like I should ask him about my plans. He had agreed to go with my vacation plan, one way or another. He hadn't verbally objected, at least. We were headed in the direction of the east coast. North Carolina, I was thinking. I'd seen on TV (one of the few times I'd actually been able to watch it) that it was a popular vacation spot. I'd never actually been, being a mutant freak on the run, and all.

I crept silently through the trees around us, trying to find him. The smell of the earthy forest floor and pine trees was soothing. My wings ached, and I just wanted to sleep. I sighed, still not seeing him. The chill of night hadn't set in yet, especially with our bonfire nearby. I resisted the urge to lay down, needing to stay on watch at the very least. I needed to tell Fang as much so he could get a few hours of sleep before switching shifts with me.

I heard a crackle in the distance. My head whipped in the direction of the noise, only to see a deer walking among the trees uphill.

I closed my eyes, relaxing. As soon as I let my guard down, I felt something touch the spot on my back between my wings. _Erasers_, I immediately thought, whipping around to face my attacker. I raised a fist to land a punch on a hairy Eraser face, only to realize I was looking at a familiar smirk, eyes half hidden by shaggy black hair.

"Holy bejeezus, it's like you want another black eye," I growled at Fang. He smiled a little in response. Odd.

I sputtered, remembering I had actually wanted to talk to him.

"Look," I started, "I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

He raised his eyebrows in response. "Same, but you go first."

I cocked my head. What could he possibly want to talk to me about?

"Okay, so, I came up with a game plan. Tomorrow we continue east, and head to North Carolina," I said in my best Max the Leader matter-of-fact tone, expecting some sort of refute. Fang just nodded.

Well, that was easier than I had expected. My mind went blank suddenly. What else had I wanted to say?

I realized that Fang was sort of looming over me. I didn't recall him getting taller than me, but I guess I had just been distracted by Erasers trying to kill the only people… birds… whatever, I cared about.

"So, was that all you wanted to talk about?" he asked. His voice was soft and low, nonchalant as usual.

"Erm, what do you mean, was that all?" was the best response I could come up with. I mentally slapped myself.

To that, he just smirked, luckily. Fang was definitely acting strange.

"Max, going to North Carolina sounds great. There really isn't anything else I'd rather be doing. I know sometimes you think you have to take care of us as well as the whole world, but it really doesn't have to be that way." My jaw dropped. Fang, speaking more than a few words at a time? That was a rare occurrence.

"Max, we deserve this," Hearing him say that made all of my doubts rush back. We really didn't though. With the power and knowledge we had, we should be using it for the good of the world. But instead, I was acting like a selfish coward, and running away to the beach. I looked at the ground.

"We really don't deserve to be treated the way we do, but we probably shouldn't be running away. However, I don't care," I knew I was being irresponsible, but I wasn't changing my mind just yet.

"That's where we disagree," Fang said slowly, his voice seeming to smooth out my worries. I suddenly realized how close we were. We had wandered farther away from the fire, to make sure our conversation didn't wake the others. I leaned back a little, feeling the bark of a tree press into my wings, folded tight against my back. Fang was standing in front of me, face nearly unreadable in the night.

I stared at him helplessly. Bringing it up, I realized more clearly how wrong this choice was. This choice to run away from out problems. My resolve crumbled.

I threw my hands up. "I mean, I don't know what else to do." My voice cracked a little. I was getting upset. I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. I clamped my lips shut. I wasn't supposed to show weakness. Half the time, I convinced myself I wasn't able to cry. But now, my eyes prickled. I wouldn't cry, but I could feel that I wanted to. Needed to, even. In a moment like this I wanted to cuddle up with Angel in my arms, and sleep away my worries. I wondered what Fang had wanted to say. Was that it, was he agreeing with my plans? It was hard to follow my more moral side (hah, I was surprised my sense of the well being of others still existed at this point) when someone was pegging me on to escape my worries. At least this would ensure the safety of the flock. I was becoming increasingly upset, and here I was out away from the others, supposed to be keeping watch while Fang slept.

But Fang was standing in front of me, not sleeping. Staring at me with his brooding dark eyes, which seemed softer tonight. He was so close I caught a whiff of the spicy-smelling deoderant he actually bothered to put on after rinsing off in a nearby stream, unlike Gazzy and Iggy. We had a few supplies in our bag, yet no one seemed to bother with them most of the time. I was sure I had a hairbrush in there, one I never touched. I suddenly became hyper aware of my matted hair, which I had rinsed in the stream, but even the water didn't help much.

He somehow smelled clean, though. I could pick his scent out from millions of others. It was warm, somehow. It reminded me of sunlight streaming through the windows of our old house, the soft downy blankets we used to wrap ourselves in. It was such a familiar smell, one that I never wanted to forget.

Huh? Why was I thinking about that, when we had actual problems to deal with. Why did it matter what my second-in-command smelled like, which was actually usually B.O. now that I thought of it…

I had gotten caught up in my own thoughts, and before I knew what was happening, Fang had slid his arms under mine, and around my lower back, pressing me into his thin, lanky figure. My breath caught in my throat. There was nowhere else for my arms to go except around his neck. They seemed to have a mind of their own, and within a second my face was tucked under Fang's chin, against his neck. His scent nearly overwhelmed me then.

I was Max, the brave, the fearless, and I suddenly didn't know what the hell was going on or what to do about it. What was Fang _doing_?!

He stroked my matted hair with one hand, rubbing my lower back with the other in slow, soothing movements. My heart pounded, as I realized it actually felt really good.

Aside from the fact that I was sure some body-snatchers from outer-space had replaced the brooding, grumpy Fang I knew with this guy, that is.

I felt my arms clinging tighter around him, because I didn't know what else to do. He seemed to take that as an encouraging sign, and hugged me to him more firmly. I could feel the calm beat of his heart through his chest, against my own sporadic heartbeat. Heat radiated through the soft black T-shirt he had on.

I had literally no idea what to do, except not move. I closed my eyes, letting my thoughts go. It actually did feel kind of nice, and I was stressed out. A hug was a hug right? Although this was Fang, who didn't do the whole nice guy hugging, rainbows-puppies-and-happiness, bit… I didn't know what else to do. This just added to the list of weird things happening between us. And the fact that I wasn't minding this closeness, once my breathing returned, was on the list and very evident.

"Max," Fang murmured, his breath hot against my neck. Was I supposed to respond to that? My head felt dizzy. His hands moved up, massaging around my shoulders and sore wings for a few heartbeats, before returning to my back… and then sliding even lower, to my waist. My eyebrows raised, although he couldn't see it. I opened my mouth, but no words came out, except "Um."

Brilliant, Maximum Ride, completely brilliant. But I was too distracted by the warmth of his embrace to really care. He pulled his head back suddenly to look at me. I couldn't imagine what my facial expression was at that moment.

"Max, you know I care about you, right?" Fang asked seriously, looking into my startled eyes with his glinting obsidian ones. "I know I never say it, but I do."

"Er, of course…" I managed to choke out. I could smell the chocolate chip granola bar on his warm breath. And I was suddenly noticing every detail of his profile, since I wasn't normally this close to his face. His pointed nose, hard jaw line. Soft-looking pale skin, hollow cheeks. His normally furred brow. His dark black lashes settled above eyes darker than the night sky.

He lifted a hand to my face, cupping my cheek. I think I nearly died. A padded thumb stroked my cheek momentarily, and then moved back to the skin right below my ear. My body nearly convulsed with the electrical shocks going through it from that single touch. It startled me, but it was wonderful at the same time.

"We don't get the chance to be alone together very often. Just the two of us," Fang said unexpectedly. I didn't understand. Of course that was the case, Fang, we had to stay together as a flock… Why would we need, or want to be alone, bird-brain?! Either way, I didn't know what to say.

If this was what would happen when we were alone, I might not mind it. Wait… what am I thinking. This is Fang. Or maybe it isn't? Maybe it's a different person, so I shouldn't care? My mind swam with similar nonsensical thoughts.

Fang was still looking at me. I raised my eyes from the curve of his jaw to his gaze, which was suddenly more intense than it had been moments before, somehow. I wasn't even sure how.

His eyes lowered to… what, my lips? And then back to my eyes. And then suddenly he was pressing his warm, soft lips to my own. I was momentarily confused, before realizing he was kissing me. I may have skipped going to actual public school and missed out on being a real kid, but I knew what kissing was. I hadn't imagined it would be this fantastic.

It was over before I knew it, one swift movement. One kiss, that I had thoughtlessly returned. He pulled back for a moment to gauge my expression, perhaps. Which was probably dumbfounded. But I hadn't moved away, and we were still wrapped around each other. I thought I caught a glance of a tiny smirk on his lips, before they were back on mine. He tilted his head first though, and parted his lips a little. Our lips moved together, with varying pressure, back and forth. A slight shudder of pleasure went through me. I didn't know how else to respond to this. My brain clearly wasn't partaking in this, kissing someone who had been family to me, almost like a brother, for so long. Because it definitely didn't make much sense. But it felt so right.

Seconds ticked by. Minutes. He didn't stop. I didn't want him to, oddly enough.

His fingers were playing at the hem of my shirt, caressing my back, my waist, almost more distracting than his lips. But not quite.

Time and events became blurred at that point. His lips moved to pecking my cheeks, my jaw, my neck, my forehead. In between he whispered things to me. Random, nonsensical things. _You're beautiful _was somewhere in there.

Somewhere in this process, I had leaned against the tree behind me, still wrapped up in Fang. He was practically glowing, his facial expression smug and satisfied. He wasn't saying anything, just smiling at me. It would have been completely creepy if it hadn't been so nice at the same time. He leaned in and kissed my nose, all hesitation gone at that point.

"So…" I started, smiling a little as well. "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"


End file.
